Three sales to Fiction River!

I'm utterly delighted to have sold three short stories to Fiction River at the annual Oregon Coast Writers Anthology Workshop!

"The Scent of Amber and Vanilla" will appear Pulse Pounders (thriller), edited by Kevin J. Anderson, in December 2104.

"Ignite the Night" will appear in Sparks (YA), edited by Rebecca Moesta, in August 2015.

"The Imperfect Otter Empire" will appear in Recycled Pulp (variety of genres), edited by John Helfers, in December 2015. John called my story "A kooky little palate cleanser."

These three stories join three others I sold previously to Fiction River:

"Living With the Past," Fantastic Detectives, Fiction River, August 2014

"Leave a Candle Burning," Fantasy Adrift, Fiction River, April 2014

"The Sound of My Own Voice," Hex in the City, Fiction River, 2013—available now!

Comfort books

I spent most of November reading for work—I was invited to pitch a story idea for an anthology in another author’s world, but I hadn’t read any of the books in that world since, ooh, 1995-ish?* I had thirteen on hand, plus I got one out of the library, although no, I didn’t read them all. I dipped in and out, asked questions, and eventually wrote a fully formed idea. I also had a vague idea that had been niggling in the back of my head, so I went ahead and pitched that as well…

Yeah. You know which one they picked. But it’ll be more fun to write because I don’t really know what it’s all about!

But that’s not what I wanted to ramble about. There are a lot of things I want to ramble about, actually, as I ponder how the holiday season affects me: ritual, family, darkness and light, spirituality, death, snow/cold. A dozen different blog posts float through my head. Many are interconnected.

Most come back to story. Which doesn’t surprise me in the least.

My usual traditional holiday reading is The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. Most years, I try to read all five books in the sequence, but that one is the most meaningful to me, set in a cold, snowy British winter. I remember finding these books in my school library; not sure if it was 8^th or 9^th grade. They built on Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander to solidify my fascination with Britain, especially Wales, and the deep magic there.

This year, though, I find myself drawn to other books. I’m not sure how to explain it except to call them comfort reading. Books that pull you down into the story and the characters and you’re there and they’re real, and it’s not so much that you can’t stop turning the pages as you’re not even aware of turning the pages. Magic, yes, but often a more subtle magic.

I moved my office upstairs at the beginning of the year, and as part of that created a wall of books (there are more bookcases on other walls, but one wall is all shelves), and in the process went through all of the fiction we have. I did get rid of a few things. I also found things I hadn’t really thought about, even though they were in a wall of bookshelves in my downstairs office, right there.

I’m reading Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin right now, because a few months ago I was staring at the shelves and it…called to me. I read at least the first chapter right there, as if under a spell. When I finished reading for work and looked around for the next book to read, that was the one I wanted. Not the 200+ books in my To Read bookcase in the upstairs landing, oh no. Tam Lin, dammit.

After that, I think it’ll be The Wood Wife by Terri Windling. I’ve been reading her blog for the past few months, so that seems…right.

 I’m not sure what I’ll choose after that. I find myself rejecting books I love as being “not right,” even as I can’t define what’s “right,” what’s “comfort.” Some, despite how I love them, are too dense. I don’t want dense or deep. (I don’t want fluff, either, really.) I just turned and stared at the shelves. Neverwhere (Gaiman), maybe? Kushner’s Swordspoint? (Why not both?)

I can’t quite put my finger on the common thread of these books. I can feel it, I can almost describe it, but then it slips away. Mythic fiction, maybe?

Do you have comfort books? What are they? What do they have in common, and why do you love them so?

--*Which is not to say the reading was arduous—I enjoy this author immensely. It’s just that if I’d had my way, I wouldn’t have necessarily binged on this author for a month straight.

In which you're spared hearing me sing karaoke

It’s here, it’s here! Remember when I linked to a free podcast of my story “The Sound of My OwnVoice”? Well, the whole anthology of urban fantasy stories from Fiction River, Hex in the City, edited by the phenomenal Kerrie Lynn Hughes, is now available for sale!

Here’s what I wrote for the intro to my story…

Years ago a humor blogger relayed a tale about drunkenly singing karaoke with friends, to the point of rolling around on the stage. Sadly, there’s no logical progression to how my brain forms ideas—it’s rather like the Underpants Gnomes on South Park (Phase 1: Collect Underpants. Phase 3: Profit). Here, it was Phase 1: Drunken Karaoke. Phase 3: Woman Who Has No Idea She’s a Siren Because She’s Been Told Never to Sing Gets Drunk, Sings Karaoke, Then Hot Guy Stops Her, and Then Stuff Happens. I found the rest of the story as I wrote it.

(I have been told this is a novel. In fact, it will be…eventually. For now, you get the short story, and by the gods you will be thankful for it!)

This anthology, though… It’s all I can do not to drop everything I’m doing and start reading. Holy shitballs! I mean, just look at this table of contents:

Foreword: Puzzle Pieces, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Introduction: Hexen & Magick, Kerrie L. Hughes*

King of The Kingless, Jay Lake

Speechless in Seattle, Lisa Silverthorne

Thy Neighbor, Nancy Holder

Somebody Else’s Problem, Annie Bellet

A Thing Immortal As Itself, Lee Allred

Geriatric Magic, Stephanie Writt

Red As Snow, Seanan McGuire

Music’s Price, Anthea Sharp

The Sound of My Own Voice, Dayle A. Dermatis

The 13th Floor Problem, Dean Wesley Smith

Dead Men Walking, Annie Reed

One Good Deed, Jeanne C. Stein

Fox and Hound, Leah Cutter

The Scottish Play, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

--

*Kerrie, if you have a website, I failed to find it…so sorry….

Elementary, my dear!

[Ooh! I thought I'd lost this post, but apparently not! Yay!]

It's out! It's out!

Pardon my French, but holy shitballs. I now have stories in two Mercedes Lackey anthologies, based in her Elemental Masters fantasy world. How...how did this happen? (Ken is no doubt shaking his head at my lack of belief in my writing, even though he's downstairs and has no idea I'm typing this.)

Dudes.

The book is out today, so if you're so inclined, you can now order Elementary (All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters). The stories are set in a world (pre-WWII) where magic exists in the form of elementals (earth, air, fire, water), and people who can wield that magical energy. Misty's novels, as well as the stories, are each loosely based on a different fairy tale as well.

This time, I wrote about Hansel and Gretel in the Black Forest of Germany during the potato famine (yep, Germany had a potato famine, too)…except it's really about the "witch" and her oven and fire, and loss and hunger and finding something to live for, and family. And magic. And as I type this, it occurs to me that there's a little bit of freaking The Sound of Music in it, kinda. Huh.

Anyway. I share a glorious TOC with my friends/awesome authors/fellow Oregon Writers Network peeps Michele Lang and Louisa Swann, as well as (holy shitballs) Mercedes Lackey and Diana L. Paxson and Tanya Huff Rosemary Edgehill and…will someone kindly pass me the smelling salts?

Oh, and what a pretty, pretty cover…

Spooky(esque) stories for the Halloween season!

It’s October, and you know what that means? It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, it is if you turn into a crazy woman because of Halloween. I love me some Halloween, baby.

It surprises me that I don’t have any stories set at Halloween, something my creative brain is trying to rectify as I type. But I do have some fantasy stories with vampires and ghosts and Old Scratch himself, so if you’re looking for some holiday-themed reading, here are my suggestions!

(Note: None of these are super-spooky, and all of them have some level of humor. Because, well, it’s me we’re talking about.)

“Blood Relations”

The woman known as the "Vegan Martha Stewart" learns who her infamous father really is...and their relationship threatens to ruin their respective empires. A funny fantasy short story—with a bite!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip”

Angrrr Management were four talented guys. (They really were. I wasn't just some starry-eyed groupie; I knew decent music and I knew stage presence.) Talented, yes, and awfully pretty, all of them. And every last one of them was dumber than a post. Had they never HEARD of Robert Johnson?

"The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip" is a hilarious urban fantasy short story about 80s hair metal and selling your soul to Satan.

Includes bonus short story "Hell's Belles"!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Feline Design”

Even Satan needs a vacation once in awhile. But perhaps taking the form of a fuzzy kitten wasn't the smartest of ideas.... A Miranda Contreau paranormal short story.

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Hell’s Belles”

Teaching etiquette to a spoiled debutante can be hell...literally. A funny fantasy with a wicked Southern twang.

Includes bonus story "The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip"!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Some Old Lover’s Ghost”

Helena runs Paranormal Manifestation Services--PMS for short. When she's hired by Beth and Marguerite to find out why a ghost is bothering Marguerite, she doesn't expect to get a crush on Beth...which makes things especially awkward when she learns who the ghost is. Rainbow Reviews called this short story "unexpectedly romantic [and] heart-wrenching."

Includes a bonus interview with the author about the writing of the story, her own paranormal experiences, and more.

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

About Dayle (in case you're new here)

DAYLE A. DERMATIS’s short fantasy has been called “funny (and rather ingenious),” “something new and something fresh,” and “really, really good!” Under various pseudonyms (and sometimes with coauthors), she’s sold several novels and more than 100 short stories in multiple genres. She lives in southern California within scent of the ocean, and she and her husband spend their spare time following Styx around the country (and sometimes out of it), exploring the world via motorcycle, renovating their 1911 Craftsman home, and doing historic re-creation, all of which inspires her writing. She loves music, cats, Wales, TV, magic, laughter, and defying expectations. To find out where she is today, check out DayleDermatis.com.

Traveling and writing and editing, oh my!

I got home last night from a stressful week away (which I prefer not to discuss publicly, as it involves people whom I care about who have not consented to be blogged about). I came down with a cold halfway through the trip, which didn’t help my stress levels one bit. You know you miss normalcy when you’re thrilled to have a few hours in the airport to work undisturbed. (I got no work done on the trip, nor did I have time for popping onto FB/Twitter/Reddit/whatever, so if anything important happened, please let me know!)

I have lots and lots of good and exciting work things happening, some of which I can’t quite talk about yet, but here’s a few items of note:

• Teresa and I have been hard at work finishing up two manuscripts to publish. As I went over them yesterday to make final tweaks, I was reminded again how much I love these fun books (both funny, sexy romances, one a contemporary and one a light paranormal) and how much I love writing with Teresa. We’ll also have an erotic holiday collection of short stories out before Christmas, called Sexy in Your Stocking. Keep an eye out here or at SophieMouette.com for updates.
• I received the proofs for my urban fantasy story “The Sound of My Own Voice,” to appear in the anthology Hex in the City. I’m blown away by my name in the table of contents with some real luminaries of fantasy fiction. This news will have its own blog post soon, but let me just say that this story, about a pissed-off woman who discovers, drunkenly, that she’s a siren, was one of the most fun I’ve ever written.
• I’m gearing up to teach an e-publishing workshop to some local writers. It’s a whole new challenge, and if it goes well (which I think it will!), I may see about offering it again.
• I’ve been freelancing as an editor (copy editor and developmental editor) at Lucky Bat Books, and now I’m moving up in the world to a project editor position. (Or maybe Project Manager; I’m not sure of the exact title they use, but it’s similar to what I did at a scholarly publisher as a Production Editor). Lucky Bat offers à la carte services for the modern writer to help you get your book out in the world as the best book it can be.

I’m sure there’s more, but I need to hit the ground running workwise today, because I’ve been off for a week and I’m taking Friday through Sunday off for a re-enactment event. (We’re planning to go to the site tomorrow on the bike to help set up the encampment, but I may not go if I’m still fighting off this cold. Also, the bike is still at the dealer so the insurance guy can look it over, and Ken may not have time to put on a new right foot peg for me. [The previous foot peg went kablooey thanks to his accident during this year’s IBR.])

And, of course, having been away means I want to spend time with Ken. It was pure joy to get off the plane yesterday and get thoroughly smooched. We stopped at our favorite Thai place near the airport on the way home (leftovers!), and then we were home and I got to snuggle with the kittays before curling up with Ken and a glass of wine to keep the DVR from exploding.

I leave you with a picture of my great-niece and I after she gave me a "makeover." I'm pretty sure I'm destined to be the Bride of Frankenstein for Halloween...!

Blinking owlishly

This happens after every workshop I take on the Oregon Coast, especially the writing-intensive ones. I emerge, blinking as if coming out of the dark into sunlight, dazed. At first, I have trouble talking to people who aren’t writers – what do non-writers talk about? (Although writers tend to be the type of people who can talk about anything, which I love.) How do non-writers get through the day without the voices in their heads, the characters clamoring for attention, the plot ideas that twist and turn like shiny colored ribbons.

Also, what’s happening in the world, with my friends and family? When I’m  heads-down writing, I lose touch with everything outside of the WMG clubhouse, the Historic Anchor Inn, and a few restaurants in Lincoln City. And the ocean, which fills my senses and refills the creative well I’ve depleted.

I was able to pop on FB a few times, but not for long, so anything that didn’t show up on three or four screens is gone forever. Ditto blogs, although I can get to them (where they patiently wait via GoogleReader).

So my point is, if I owe you an email or a call, I’ll get to it. Soon. Perhaps not today, but soon. If you have exciting news that I may have missed, let me know (and I’ll get back to you…soon).

If you need to get hold of me, email is best. FB messaging worst by a long way. If you’ve pinged me that way recently, it’s probably lost in the crush (and I don’t have reliable Internet access right now, so my FB time will be limited ‘til I get home next week).

With that out of the way…the workshops. I’ve already talked about The Craft and Business of Short Fiction. My story for the Fiction River anthology Unnatural Worlds was bounced when an invited author got their overdue story in, but Kris and Dean think it will work for a 2014 issue (with a fantasy detectives theme) if I don’t sell it before then. So that’s the first announcement of spiffiness.

The second workshop was the annual Anthology Workshop. If you’ve read my SFF short-story collection Written on the Coast, you’ve seen the product of the first six Anthology Workshops. The basic setup is that we write a story ahead of time (this year, for possible inclusion in Unnatural Worlds, edited by John Helfers) and then write a story at the workshop (this year, for possible inclusion in Hex in the City, edited by Kerrie Hughes). We also read everyone else’s, not for a critique (we’re all pro writers), but as if we were editing the anthologies ourselves. Then, Kris, Dean, John, and Kerrie all give their opinion, with the actual editor letting us know if s/he will buy the story or not.

I’m chuffed to say that my story for Unnatural Worlds made the first cut, and my story for Hex in the City will appear in that anthology!   *\o/*

Plus I got to read so many amazing, creative, fantastic stories by some brilliant writers I’m fortunate to call my friends and peers.

And there walks on the beach, in the rain and in the sunshine….

Our original plan was to head home after the final workshop, but Ken has more work to do in Portland on his motorcycle (his friend has a shop), so now we’re looking at leaving Thursday evening. I caught a ride here last night, so I’ve got a few days to get some work done before we go. I’ve got stories to write, business correspondence to catch up on, anthology themes to pitch, a novel to edit, a novella to finish….

The only downside is that I have two commissioned design jobs I need to get done before the California Dreamin’ RWA conference March 15–17, and I’m going to have only a week to do them. Eep! It’s doable, but I’ll be putting in some overtime.  :-)

Speaking of work, I'm off to do it now! But let me know how ya’ll have been doing!

Reading is sexy

You know what’s coming up? Well, yes, today is Imbolc/Candlemas/Gŵyl Fair y Canhwyllau (bless you), but in two weeks, we’ve also got Valentine’s Day.

Yeah, yeah, it’s a commercial holiday and we should show our beloveds the same attention every day, etc. But I confess, I like an excuse to be extra-romantic. And what’s more romantic than books?

(You knew I was going there, so don’t pretend to be surprised.)

This year I have print books for sale as well as electronic editions – books you can tuck under your lover’s pillow or wrap up in white paper with a glittery bow and red lipstick-print kisses all over it.

“Braceleted” is pretty sexy, but it’s also a delightful little small-town romance. It’s a long short story, so it’s only $5.99, and you could put it in a gift bag with some furry red handcuffs and Nag Champa incense and chocolate, because what’s Valentine’s Day without chocolate? Get a big honkin’ heart-shaped one. Gods knows that worked on me once.

Give In: Stories of Erotic Submission is a collection with a harder edge, but while it’s BDSM erotica, most of the stories are kinda romantic, because I’m a romantic kinda girl.

Speaking of girls, you could also check out Kiss Me Hello: Lesbian Erotic Romance, because, well, romance!

Although it’s not a romance per se, the hero in Waking the Witch (a gothic novel), but the hero’s interactions with the heroine are crucial to her journey, so…. I have two other gothics coming out that are romances, but they’re just not going to be ready by V-Day. Maybe this one will tide you over?

If you – or your intended giftee – is into fantasy/science fiction, my collection Written on the Coast has a few stories that could be considered romantic, too. It’s just not the theme of the collection.

I’m new to this print book thing, so I don’t have a lot of copies on hand and I’m not sure how long it would take to get more, so if you want a signed copy, I’d say tell me right now if you want it by Valentine’s Day!

I now return you to your regularly scheduled spring festival of your choice.